Hey – Room In Their Bags!!!!

Carly wrote to me this week about her family’s upcoming visit. And the extras they are bringing in their suitcases. I post it to give you ideas about how YOU can bring a little extra something when you come to Costa Rica! It’s so easy!!!

Carly writes to me:

Hi, Saratica, remember me? [Of course, I do! I’m not THAT old.] We’d e-mailed each other a few times before my computer crashed … and then I lost your e-mail address. I hope this comment gets your attention … no idea the mechanics on these blog beasts … [all comments reach me, no matter how old the post!]

I wanted to copy you on a post I’ve submitted to my favoured online discussion group. It has a membership of over 500, so, hopefully we’ll drown in socks before we come.

See how clever I am at contriving a meeting with you? [I love clever people, especially if they are bringing socks for the masses.] Here it is, slightly edited for privacy :

Here’s Carly post to her online group asking for SOCK donations:

Hi folks.

My family and I are going to Costa Rica in early oh eight, and we wish to support some of the (very) grass roots organizations working with aboriginal communities there. There are so many ways to offer support … with money being an obvious no brainer.

Traveling with three babes, our wish was to come up with a tangible, but lightweight, *something* to bring, and we’ve decided on socks. White socks.

Before a child can go to school in Costa Rica, they must have their own uniforms, including the required shoes and socks, right down to the color and ALL of their own supplies. It runs $75 and up per year. Not much to you and me but might as well be a million dollars to some families.

Many children CANNOT go to school because they do not have a uniform! They can be and ARE sent home for not having the right shoes. If you are inclined to offer something, (for us to bring with us to CR) I swear to you ONE THING makes a difference. One pair of shoes, or socks, may be all that stands between a child and school. I am not making this up. (Thank you A Broad In Costa Rica for the verbage, which I’ve plagerized, slightly edited.)

You come in this way: we want you to send us socks. Use this as an opportunity to discuss philanthropy, global social responsibility, poverty, privilege, education with your children. We want to fill up a big fat suitcase with bags and bags of white socks. All sizes … well, with the caveat that Tico people are generally smaller statured than North Americans. No stripes, no grey soles, just white, white socks.

You can send them to me (address snipped).

And, if you have a mind to, you could include a cash donation as well. Cash, cheque — both are lightweight, and will fit in our carryon. $75 can make a huge difference in one family’s life. I haven’t worked out all the logistics of how we’ll translate your cheques to a charitable giving in Costa Rica. One option that comes to mind is, you could click the link I offered and scroll down to where Sally references:

and select one of these organizations to write your cheque or money order directly to. Another option is to write a cheque to me and trust that I will translate these cheques into one donation cheque using my husband’s business currency broker. And yes, this latter option *does* require you to trust me to be honourable — hopefully a position that has been supported by your experience of me over the last two years on this list. For what it’s worth, we wouldn’t be jetting a family of five off to Costa Rica if we were in a position to need to pilfer a bit off the top of the charitable givings you offer. Enough said.

If you have any questions, please offer them on list, as perhaps others will have wondered the same.

4 Comments

Dobby Schmidt
on October 3, 2007 at 11:07 pm

I’ve been doing costuction Missions in Mexico and central America for the last 4 years and soon to be working in Cotsa Rica.I will be on a rotation of 3 weeks CR 1 week the States.After the 1st trip I will have 2 emty suitcases that I could fill with socks,shoes or what ever is needed.contact at dobbydotdob@yahoo.com

When I saw “Room in their bags,” I thought uh-oh, another maid story. 😉
This sounds like a nice simple way to help.
Well, as you can see from my comments, I’ve been catching up on your fabulous blog. You are such an honest person. That is one of the things that I really like about your blog, along with the humor, of course. I enjoy sharing your experiences because there are a lot of similarities here in Honduras.
Keep up the great work!